Life Is No Fairytale, Even If There Are Unicorns
by lily73190
Summary: Lily Evans, at the age of 8, discovered that she was a witch. Since then, everything has changed, and nothings been easy. Will James Potter and his gang make things easier, or harder?
1. Prologue,

_Prologue:_

Lily Evans had unknowingly and unwillingly walked onto the threshold of the marauders' secret club house It wasn't so much a club house, rather an empty classroom with poorly done charms around it – a flashing _**'marauders only'**_sign, hanging above the door, which looked like it would fall if it were tapped by the wind. Chuckling to herself about their infantile handiwork, Lily began to walk lazily toward the center of the room where multiple pieces of parchment were lingering on an old desk, which was also charmed to read **'marauders only'**. As she was walking, she realized she had no idea who or what the marauders were. Some of the charms were advanced -- 4th or 5th level -- but were poorly done, so it could have been a third year or maybe even someone in her own year.

_Maybe Sev will know..._

_**CLANGK**_

Lily started at the sudden noise. _Oh no! _She had forgotten all about the Halloween feast! _Mary had thought I'd gone to the bathroom!_ She turned toward the door and was almost at the handle when she heard four all too familiar voices.

"Naw, come on Remmy. No one will see us if we just slip in! They'll all think we just disappeared in the crowd."

"We should wait till it dies down a bit..."

"And risk being seen?"

"But...I'm confused."

Lily, frozen to the spot, quickly glanced around the teachers' desk . _Perfect._ Her foot disappeared from sight just as the door was thrown open, and three people were thrust into the room unceremoniously, while a fourth followed gracefully, shutting the door behind him.

"See?" That was Sirius. No one else could sound that cocky, except for-

"Yes Sirius,we know; you're the almighty, all knowing one. All hail the great Sirius." _Him -- James Potter_. Flushing slightly, Lily Evans scuttled about, so she could get her face closer to the crack between floor and desk, and she could see the boys' rumpled robes and tattered trainers.

"Shut it Potter, or I will banish you from our lair!" _Lair? _She thought, _It's anything but!_

"Banish? _Me?" _James said in mock horror.

"Did we make a banishing rule already?" said a nervous, squeaky voice that could belong only to Peter Pettigrew.

"No Pete, we haven't begun writing the rules yet, because we were rudely interrupted by someone's _stomach." _And Remus, though obviously attempting to sound stern, couldn't hide the smile from his voice (or from his face, though Lily couldn't see).

"I say we make the first rule that no other rules apply. Neither law nor restriction can stop us!" And to her horror, a foot, presumably Sirius', found its way to the top of the desk Lily sat under, cowering. She waited as the laughter died away (well, James and Remus were really just snickering; Peter, however, was howling like a wolf at the full moon.)

"Alright you lot, settle down. We'll be here all night if we don't finish!" She heard herself groan-

"What was that?" No, he couldn't have … How in Merlin's name could Remus have _heard_ that

_"Quick, check in the closet, under the desk_, _not_ that_ desk dummy! That-"_

_Shit_

"Evans?! What the bludger are you doing in here?" She was caught. Lily Evans, the master of secrecy that she was, had foolishly never even bothered to pick up her wand.

"I was eavesdropping." _Well, there's really no use lying_.

The quartet surprised by her admittance, looked up stupidly at her.

"And that's a stupid rule." All four boys, well three, started ranting and hardly began to notice that she was inching toward the door.

"Hey! You're not going anywhere," said James, catching her arm. Attempting to control her estrogen, she jerked out of his grasp and turned to look at him.

"Oh? And what exactly were you planning on doing? Tying me to the tracks and leaving me for the train?" (An old favorite expression of hers and Sev's, which they had discovered in an old movie.)

"Ummm, no, whatever _that_ means. We were planning to show you how the marauders get even." She snorted. , "What a petty name. Marauders. Hardly. ..." she thought.

"Really?" She said, raising her eyebrows. " And how are you planning to do-Hey!!"As the nice quaint conversation had been going on, Peter Pettigrew, of all people, had crept behind, and grabbed the young girl's wand.

"GIVE THAT BACK!" She lunged at the small boy, who had a look of pure terror on his face, but before her flailing fists could make contact, someone had grabbed her around the waist.

"Not so fast." A smirking Remus came to face her. He held her as Sirius and James each took an arm and led the way through the door.

Thrashing around for the first few minutes, Lily finally calmed down, though she was still muttering a thick stream of curses.

"Oi, Snivellus." Lily looked up. They had brought her right to the dungeons, a common spot to find her best friend, Severus Snape, more commonly known as 'Snivellus'.

"What the hell do you think your doing-" she and Severus shouted this at the same time, and when their eyes met, they seemed to be having a silent conversation

"Your little pal here did something that you have been trying to do for a year, and now we wonder, was it on your orders?" James narrowed his eyes at his nemesis.

"What the hell-"

"Quiet Evans"

"Don't you-"

"Silencio!

"Hey, you can't do that! Let her go!" Snape made a move as if to run towards her, but Sirius had his wand drawn before anything could happen.

"Don't--you---_dare."_ Snape didn't even glance at the wand but looked straight into Sirius' eyes.

"Ahh, but Snivelly, wouldn't I? Wouldn't I just _dare_ to lift you up and spin you around the hall? SCOURGIFY!"

The spell was so random and so off aim (assuming he was aiming for Snape) that anyone who had read _Hogwarts, A History_ would have known exactly what he was doing.

According to legend, in 1879, a young prankster in his 5th year had been doing detention in the dungeons. His job was to clean the floor and walls of a selected area without magic. Of course, being a prankster, he had decided to sneak in his wand. He had already used it to clean most of the dungeons, when he tripped. He stepped in a bucket right in the middle of his 'scourgify' spell. The spell landed at the base of the door. Apparently, when he fell, his spell intensified and went straight through the floor and into a pipe. With the build up of bubbles, the pipe exploded.

Remus was running for cover, immediately expecting trouble. Lily, being held by James, could do nothing as he stood dumb-stricken, along with everyone else. No one had bothered to read _Hogwarts, A History_, except, surprisingly, Sirius, who watched animatedly to see if his spell would work.

At first, it appeared that nothing would happen. The floor was just as grimy as ever. But then, one small bubble rose from the ground and popped. Snape began to snicker and-

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!" The six second years were sent slipping and sliding about as the dungeon door flew open to allow kilos of water to come pouring out. Suds everywhere! It was like a bubble bath!

"BLACK!" screeched a horrified Lily (who had obviously broken through the silencing charm). "What in SODDING HELL DID YOU DO?"

"---I didn't think it would work! I swea-"

"What in Merlin's name is going on here?" _Oh no!_ Not her, not...

"Hello McGonagall, strange weather we're having, t'snt it?" _Sudding-sodding-Sirius!_

"Sirius Black, what have you four done this time?" She sounded as if she said this daily.

"I think you've got to get a new prescription for your spectacles, Minnie. There are si---errr five of us!"

"_Well_ then, lucky me! _Black, Potter, Pettigrew, Snape, Evans (_Lily could have sworn her eyes lingered on her for just a moment longer),the _five_ of you will kindly hand over your wands, and ask Mr. Filch for muggle cleaning supplies. You are to stay here until it is spotless. And then you will all be in my office at seven o'clock sharp on Saturday to receive your detention_. Well?_ Hand them over!"

Sirius, Peter, James, and Severus all groggily handed over their wands. Lily realized that she didn't exactly _have_ her wand, and she marched up to where James and Sirius stood giggling like girls.

She wiped the water off her hands and brushed her wet red hair from her face.

"Where is it Potter?" She asked in a low voice, though loud enough for her professor to hear. "Where is my bloody _wand?"_ Still giggling madly, the pair pointed towards the dungeon door -- or what was _once_ the dungeon door. Now, it was a mighty hole. And her wand was in it.

Lily, Snape, James, and Sirius watched as McGonagall disappeared from sight. Lily rounded on James; her eyes glowing with hate.

"This is all _YOUR_ fault!"

"Me? I wasn't the one who blew up the pipe!"

"Well, he's YOUR friend!

"So that makes it my fault?"

"YOU HAD MY WAND POTTER! PETER GAVE YOU MY SODDING WAND, AND NOW IT'S IN A HOLE!"

James couldn't stifle his laughter any longer. It came out sounding much like a hyena and continued for just five seconds, for Lily jumped at him, and they both fell. They began to roll around the soapy corridor.

"Gerrof! Get off me! You bloody lunatic!" James was terrified. He could _not_ be beaten by a _girl. _They continued rolling, Lily still attempting to pinch, hit, and punch every inch of James she could find.

"Mr. Potter, Miss Evans!"

_"Miss Evans."_

They froze.

Or, rather, they tried to. But they rolled a few more feet before coming to a complete stop. Scrambling away hurriedly from each other, they turned to look toward their head of house with wide, innocent eyes.

"What do you think you were doing?" Eyes narrowed, Lily had never seen a scarier sight. But if James was scared, he was doing a good job of hiding it.

"We fell, Professor" Lily practically spun around on the spot to face James.

"You _fell_." _If her lips get any thinner, they'll permanently disappear, _Lily thought.

"Yes, you see, its a bit slippery over here, and Lily fell, and I tried to help her up, and we both started to roll, and..."

"Is this true, Miss Evans?" _Nope, there they go, thin as can be_.

"Ummm...Yes? Yes it's true, I slipped. On the water. And soap." She tried her best to look innocent, widening her eyes and pouting a bit, but her fear was getting in the way. She had gone her whole first year without getting into trouble! Her spotless record was already broken. Professor McGonagall's eyebrows rose, and she turned to walk away.

"Well, then." They began to breathe a sigh of relief._ Thank God, if we got into anymore trouble-_

"15 points from Gryffindor … each, for lying."

_-I probably...WAIT...WHAT????_?

"Well that was close, don't you think?" _Stupid, stupid James_.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN 'THAT WAS CLOSE?' WE JUST GOT POINTS TAKEN FROM OUR HOUSE, AND I CAN'T EVEN WIN THEM BACK, BECAUSE MY WAND IS STUCK IN A HOLE!"

"Whoa, calm down Evans-"

"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN-"

"So I didn't miss much did I?" The five heads turned to greet the newcomer.

"Remus, thank Merlin!" Sirius bounded over and tackled him to the ground.

"What took so long?"

"Why wasn't he here before? He should have to do the punishments too!" Severus had only just noticed Remus' disappearing act and was angrily waiting to hear the reason.

"Calm down Snivelly. We always try to leave one person out of trouble, so whatever cruel and lethal punishment they make us do, we can use a wand." At the word, James, hoping she wouldn't blow up again, glanced nervously at Lily, but she was merely looking at Snape.

"So, what took so long? McGonagall hanging around?" They watched Remus for an answer -- Snape seemed to be watching extra carefully, and he certainly had a suspicious glint in his eyes.

"No, she was long gone. Slughorn was wondering around the hallways -- he was upset for some reason." The four boys snickered, and the other two scowled.

"_Excuse_ me." They stopped laughing for moment to look at Lily, who was glaring ferociously at any one who dared look her in the eye.

"But would someone _please_ summon my wand for me?"

Ignoring the protests from his friends, Remus took his wand from inside his robe pocket and 'accio'ed it.

"Thank you."

It was almost sweetly that she took her wand from Remus. She turned and looked at the soap covered walls and waved her wand around until it was all dry. She winked at Severus than turned towards her newly found enemies.

"Run"


	2. Careful in Love Interlude

A/N : Hope this doesn't confuse you. my computer whiped out on me, and my itunes is gone too. So the next couple of chapters was deleted, and i came up with this off the top of my head. This is just Lily reflecting when she goes home after her sixth year. From now on the chapters will take place in seventh year, or the summer before seventh year. Please review. x

Every time Lily looked out of her window, she could see the large house on Spinners End in the distance. The sight of it made her shudder, but not because it was the housing of her ex-best friend, Severus Snape, but because she knew the type of life and people it contained. She closed her eyes as she remembered the story that Severus had once told her on one of their days in the woods. Eileen Snape had been almost beautiful in her younger years, and fell madly in love with Tobias Snape at the ripe age of 19. Their 'love at first sight' was beautiful, and they had a baby boy in 1960, two years after their marriage. But, (this part she had not been told, but had gathered over the years) the relationship was not a lasting one, and it had fallen apart. Tobias had lost his job of 8 years to a 'newbie' and had become severely depressed. That was when he first became an abusive husband, and father.

That was why Lily was careful in love. She had seen pictures of how happy the Snapes had been, and so in love with each other, it was a relationship every girl hoped to see. But, alas, fate took hold. 'While Lily still believed in love, she thought it foolish to get married solely based on it. She wasn't a prude, or a slut for that matter. She had had a few boyfriends, none that had lasted too long, and dreamt about falling in love as much as the next girl. She just happened to think about the future, maybe more than she should have.

And _true_ love, she just didn't quite understand.


	3. Chapter 1

Okay, excuses: I forgot i posted this on FF, and I've been away w/o a computer for five weeks. Now, a update. This takes place years after the prologue, the summer before 7th year.

Chapter 1

Lily Evans was, not only a morning person, but a night owl. She had had company over last night and had stayed up with them until roughly 11 o'clock. Then she went upstairs and finished her charms essay that she had been lagging on since she got home, and fell asleep at almost one.

When the birds began to sing, and before the sun began to rise, she woke and made herself some Darjeeling tea which she did not finish. And began her day with reading the book her father had left on the cofee table the night before.

The problem with being both a morning person and a night owl was that the lack of sleep eventually catches up with you. For instance, on that particular Summers day, Lily had been so relaxed cuddled up with her book, that even after she had made her way outside to where she could here the hustle and bustle of the town, she managed to drift off into a light sleep where she dreamt of the captain of the Chudley Cannons saving her from the Acromentula, which turned out to be only the captain's boggart. In her dream, she was laughing. But the sound of yelling woke her up. Petunia had come home, and had evidently asked something of her parents.

Petunia was in love with Vernon 'Walrus' Dursley, a particularly boring man just a few years older than Petunia, who sold drills. Now, her parents tried not to interfere with the Petunia/Vernon relationship, as though, they did not love the idea, Petunia could have done worse.

So Lily wondered what could possibly had been said. Until she overheard everything.

"DROPPING OUT? PETUNIA AFTER ALL THAT YOU'VE WORKED FOR, YOU'RE DROPPING OUT?"

"Mum, please stop shouting! The neighbors have already gotton their earful!"

"Yes well they'll certainly wonder why you dropped out of the University! You'll be the talk of the town" That would probably be the only thing keeping Petunia from dropping out. Gossip.

"Mum, please! It's not dropping out! I'm transferring! It would be so much easier, so nice to be closer to home!"

"YOU MEAN CLOSER TO THAT--THAT--"

"Walrus?"

Both pairs of eyes turned towards the youngest Evans, who stood hiding a smirk by the doorway.

"This is none of your concern. From what you've said it doesn't even sound as if you'll be going to college." Petunia glared. Right, place it on me, not that they're even is a wizardry college.

"Lily, please, stay out of this one" Her mother pleaded desperatly. Lily rolled her eyes, and while she retreated into the living room, she was sincerely tempted to grab a bag of popcorn and watch to see how her sister was going to convince her mother.

"Mum," Petunia said, in a quieter, sensual voice, "please, look, I know that Oxford is a good school, but-"

"Oh, honey, Oxford is the best school. You had so many opportunities there!"

"But, mum, college hardly matters to me," Mrs. Evans looked like she was ready to have a heart attack.

"Hardly...hardly"

oooh Petty, that was not the right move. Lily almost giggled.

"I just want to be able to live with Vernon, and have a child, maybe two"

And spend your day cleaning and spying on the neighbors, and cooking for your fat lump you'd call your child. Poor kid.

"And Aston is a good school! Vernon says the teachers are amazing, and the classes..."

"But this is Oxford, Petunia, I thought you dreamed of being an entrepruneur, one day."

"Mum, I'm being realistic!"

And so it went on for hours. back and forth, neither backing down. Lily began to get bored and began to read the book she had started earlier that morning. She had just gotten to the part where the murder was being rapped up, when she caught a snippet of conversation.

"Mum, Vernon feels the same way, he wants to get to know you as well! Guess what he did?" Obviously very excited, Petunia was probably bouncing on the balls of her feet, or cleaning .

"What, did he do, Pet?" Mrs. Evans was obviously exhausted, worn out from arguing with her eldest daughter.

"Well, Mr. and Mrs.Dursley own a few summer houses down in Godics Hollow and..."

"And?"

"They've invited us to stay for them the rest of the summer!"

Ummm, what?

"Petunia! That's very lovely, and err, quite unexpected."

"So you'll come? Please,it would be rude to turn down the invitation.."

"And this is for all of us? Your father and sister included?"

"Well, err, I was thinking that Lily might like to stay at a friends house. She wouldn't know anybody there and it wouldn't be much fun for her"

Of course not. And I'll make sure to make arrangements to be at a friend's for the wedding as well.

"Petunia, don't you think that Lily should get to know Vernon as well?"

"No, mum, we don't want him getting suspicious when he sees her doing homework with a quill, and on parchment." Mrs. Evans simply groaned. It was a good point,and she couldn't argue.

"Fine. Fine. We'll talk to your father about this when he gets home.Lily?"

Lily walked into the room, attempting to look innocent.

"You heard, I assume" Breaking her composure, Lily nodded.

"I'll write to Mary, she said I could visit her if I wanted. She'll be pleased."

"You're sure..."

"Defniitly, I've seen enough of wa-vernon, to last me a life time" And she ran up the stairs before sister or mother could say or do anything else.

Mary,

How's your summer been? Mines been as boring as always. Did you see in the prophit? New DADA teacher, this one seems like a wuss, but you never can tell, remember Professor Letitbe? Anyway, how's little Max? Is he excited about his first year at Hogwarts? I hope he's a Gryffindor! Anyway, guess what? My sister's walrus boyfriend invited the family to go to Godrics Hollow for the summer. Guess what else? I'm not included in the invite! SO i desperately need a place to stay for a bit. And as my best friend it is your duty to rescue thy maiden in destress and taketh int thee home.

See you soon?!

Lily

Constructive criticism is appreciated :) PLEASE R&R


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